PVR and Cinepolis India are in talks to merge for Rs 13,600 crore
According to four sources a deal is being worked out, the parent company of the country’s largest multiplex chain, PVR Limited, is in talks to strike a Rs 13,600-crore merger deal with rival and third largest movie theatre chain Cinepolis India.
Cinepolis India will be valued between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,000 crore. PVR Limited has a market capitalization of approximately Rs 9,600 crore. As a result, the combined entity is expected to be worth around Rs 13,600 crore. If the agreement is finalised, it will bring together PVR’s 860 screens in India and the 400 screens owned by Mexico-based Cinepolis’ India business. Cinepolis is the country’s fourth largest film exhibitor, trailing only Inox and Carnival Cinemas, which have 667 and 450 screens, respectively.
The acquisition is critical for PVR because, unlike its previous acquisitions – south-centric SPI Cinemas, Cinemax Cinemas, which is primarily present in the west, and Delhi-NCR-focused DT Cinemas – Cinepolis India’s 400 screens spread across 22 cities will strengthen PVR’s pan-India presence. The development also comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated film exhibitors’ revenue due to multiple lockdowns across the country.
As of December 31, 2021, PVR had a total gross debt of Rs 1,536 crore and a liquidity of Rs 678 crore. Due to the pandemic, its revenue fell from Rs 3,452 crore in the full fiscal year ending March 2020 to Rs 310 crore the following year.
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